A man currently serving time in a Michigan prison for an armed robbery has
been sentenced to 10 years in the Indiana Department of Correction (DOC)
after pleading guilty to aiding in the attempted armed robbery of the
Chesterton Amoco in 2001.

Erik Samuel Gonzales, 30, was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 years in the DOC.
That sentence, however, is to be served concurrent to the one which Gonzales
is now serving in Michigan.

Aiding in an attempted robbery is a Class B felony punishable by a term of
six to 20 years.

Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper made note in her sentencing order of
one aggravating factor, namely, that Gonzales has a conviction in Michigan
for armed robbery, which in fact he committed about an hour before the one
in Chesterton.

Harper also made note of two mitigating factors: Gonzales’ admission of
guilt and his “youthful age”

--18--at the
time of the robbery.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed by the Chesterton Police
Department, at 4:50 a.m. March 31, 2001, two men entered the Amoco at 525
Indian Boundary Road. “One paid for gas and left,” the affidavit stated.
“The other came to the counter to buy a bag of chips.” That second man then
pulled a handgun, cocked it, and demand the money in the register.

The clerk, though, noting that a round was stuck in the gun’s ejection port
and guessing that the gun probably would not fire, “threw the money at the
person and ran into the office to activate the alarm and call the police,”
the affidavit stated.

Surveillance tape shows the man with the handgun “attempting to shoot” the
clerk as the clerk was running. the affidavit also stated.

The man with the gun was Gonzales’ accomplice, Rex R. Tyler, who was
sentenced to 15 years in the Indiana DOC for attempted robbery. He was
released in January 2012.

Tyler admitted to trying to shoot the Amoco clerk, while Gonzales admitted
to actually committing the armed robbery in Michigan about an hour before
the one in Chesterton.

Gonzales remains incarcerated at Newberry Correctional Facility, where he is
serving a minimum term of 11 years and three months, with the earliest
possible release date of June 30, 2014.